Revolt of the Northern Earls

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1a) What problems did William Cecil identify for Elizabeth and England at the start of 1569?
- The eviction of the crown of England to Mary Queen of Scots.
- Changing the estate of England to Popery, which cannot be accomplished while the Queen lives.
- Weaknesses of Elizabeth = lack of marriage, children and assistance from foreign powers.
1b) How far does Source 3 support Source 4 about the problems facing Elizabeth I?
- Source 3 clearly states that there would be problems revolving the changing of the estate of England to
Popery. This can be arguably seen as in Source 4, it is rumoured that religion was the cause of the stir that
occurred among the Duke of Norfolk and the Earls of Northumberland and Westmorland. Alongside this,
this does accentuate the problem of Elizabeth’s lack of marriage as this all stems from rumours of the
marriage of the Scottish Queen (her rival) and the Duke of Norfolk.

2) Strengths and weaknesses of the following:

a) Returning Mary to Scotland.
Strength = Gets Mary out of the country which is good as some Catholics viewed Elizabeth as illegitimate
therefore presenting Mary as a more desirable/favourable Queen.
Weakness = Could backfire as she could gather more support.
b) Sending Mary to France
Strength = Gets Mary out of the country which is good as some Catholics viewed Elizabeth as illegitimate
therefore presenting Mary as a more favourable Queen.
Weakness = Could backfire as she could gather more support, plus Mary did grow up in France, therefore,
was welcome there.
c) Allowing Mary to remain in England
Strength = Reduce the risk of Mary gathering support in Scotland or France with Elizabeth keeping tight
control.
Weakness = Unlawfully imprisoning Mary could provoke an international outcry and could present Eliza-
beth with more revolts and acts of treason. Increase in Catholic plotting against Elizabeth eg. Babington Plot
1586.
d) Allowing Mary to marry the Duke of Norfolk.
Strength = Potentially ease tensions between the two Queens.
Weakness = Weakens Elizabeth’s position as she is still not married and she is still without child. Makes
Mary look more desirable.

3) If you were to chose just one of these options, which would it be and why?
I would not probably choose the option of allowing Mary yo remain in England as long as she was impris-
oned. This is because it reduces the risk of her gathering further foreign support and if Elizabeth carefully
controlled her access it would be harder for her to get involved in any plots. Alongside this, all poets against
her were careful controlled and dissolved showing the power of Elizabeths government.

Early tensions and the events of the rebellion.

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1) Read source 5, what does it reveal about the reasons for the Northern rising?
It is said that the Northern rising must take place as they were already in peril and they only had two options
which was to flee the country or enter this rebellion without the help of the Earl of Westmorland. It was con-
cluded that it would be unfair to leave behind all their supporters and simply flee, therefore they must rebel.
2) What does the source reveal about the level of threat posed by the rebellion?
The source clearly states that Northumberland asked them (Richard Norton and Thomas Markenfield) to re-
consider which potentially shows that he may have thought it unwise to rebel as perhaps they were not strong
enough. However, it does also state that they came back with more men who were prepared to rebel.
3) Northumberland was giving evidence about his role in the rising to the English authorities following his
capture. How might this affect his account of events?
He argues that he asked them to reconsider their decision which may have been because he did not want to
present himself as having much influence over the rebellion. However, as he did end up admitting to involve-
ment he may have wanted to present the rebellion to be more dangerous than it was, therefore, trying to pur-
sue the involvement of people such as the Earl of Derby, Mary and the Spanish Ambassador.